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zarabia
Dor-Lomin
Dec 1 2012, 7:47am
Post #1 of 55
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How do you feel about your name?
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Curious G's thread about giving a child a Tolkien inspired name prompted me to think about how I feel ( and how I used to feel) about my name. Which, of course, led me to create a poll about what others think about theirs. I'm not asking for real names here, just your feelings about them.
For me, I used to haaate my name; I begged my mom to change it. But over time I came to accept it, if for no other reason than that I don't run into twenty other people with the same name. Later, I noticed that on those few occasions when there was a character with my name in a movie or on TV, she was almost always smart and spunky. So I've come to rather like my name. One bad thing: it lends itself to stupid jokes. Not mean or crude jokes, just stupid. And people always seem to think they are the first to come up with them 
You can choose more than one answer, so please share.
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Starling
Gondolin
Dec 1 2012, 8:01am
Post #2 of 55
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It's unusual, but easy for people to pronounce, so I have never had any difficulty because of it. And it's a nice reminder of my family heritage on my father's side. He died when I was a child, so that makes my name even more special to me.
In my lifetime I have met two people with the same name as mine.
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zarabia
Dor-Lomin
Dec 1 2012, 8:11am
Post #3 of 55
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It's wonderful when parents give a name that is meaningful - that gives a feeling of connection to family history or heritage.
I'm sorry about your father. But it's nice that you have this reminder of him.
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Spencissimus
Menegroth
Dec 1 2012, 9:02am
Post #4 of 55
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I can't imagine being called anything else.
My name is just so me!
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Kelvarhin
Gondolin
Dec 1 2012, 9:13am
Post #5 of 55
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and the abbreviated form of it too, which is what most people call me. Was called by my full name today and wondered what I'd done    
I was named after my Step-pops favourite singer, so it's always been special to me. He died long before I was born, so it's a nice connection to him. 
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DanielLB
Elvenhome
Dec 1 2012, 9:16am
Post #6 of 55
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I have quite a common name, but I wouldn't change it!
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I do prefer Being called Daniel than any of its abbreviations, but I'm not fussed. Like I said in the other thread, I don't particularly like my middle name though.
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Alcarcalime
Dor-Lomin
Dec 1 2012, 9:25am
Post #7 of 55
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don't like nicknames.
I am sure that there aren't many people on the boards who remember a show from the 50s called My Little Margie (Gail Storm). Her father had a girlfriend with the same name as I have. He had a BBC-type accent and said it so beautifully.
I don't like having my name mispronounced, but don't say anything. I don't say anything about nicknames, either. I always say, I don't care what you call me, just don't call me late for supper.
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Magpie
Elvenhome
Dec 1 2012, 3:30pm
Post #8 of 55
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generally, I"m very happy with my name
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Many people from here who know me know my full name. I think the thing I love the most about it is all three of my names start with M. And since my first name is a little long, I have taken to signing things as mmm instead of my full first name. And for the same reason, other people use it as a sort of 'nick' too. So lists of people might read:
Andy
Sharon
mmm
Peter
Alicia
When I got my Magpie nick (which I've adopted for a larger personal 'brand', as well) from my husband, it was another M. I also live in Minneapolis, MN although I live on one of the many numbered streets... not Morgan Ave or something... so it's not *perfect*.
Although my last name is common, my first and middle names are not spelled in terribly conventional ways although both are accepted spellings. I liked my name so much that it was one factor in not taking my husband's last name when I married. It wasn't the only reason but it factored in greatly.
Not so good parts about my name:
As a youngster, I shared my first name with a blond bombshell. I didn't like being compared to her. I was happy when circumstances pretty much put a stop to that. (on a side note, there was another older actress that had the same first and last name as myself - although both actresses spelled their name differently than mine. There is another actress whose first name is the same as me and whose last name is the same as my middle name! again.. different spellings)
No one spells my name right. They always leave off the last double letter. I finally took to filling out forms for events and meetings with "NOTE SPELLING" next to my name so that people would make the nametag correctly. I thought my business card should have my name spelled wrong and then the last letter added in crayon like font because I was always grabbing whatever I could find to correct name tags. I used to just let it go but decided at 40 that my gift to myself would be to correct people. I was correcting people who had gotten it wrong for years.
I never met another person with my first name until high school when someone moved to the district who had the same first and last name as me. She was a bad girl. I was a goody twoshoes. She was constantly being called to the office (only bad students got called to the office). "X X ... come to the office." She was bad, though... so she wouldn't go. "X X ... come to the office." My friends would poke me... 'they want you in the office'. No... they want the other X X. I'd gone through this many times before. Finally, after the third call I'd go to the office just to satisfy everyone else and the other X X would be showing up about them. And it was her they wanted.
When I tried to buy tickets for the Guthrie Theater after first moving to Minneapolis, the ticket seller asked for my name. "Ah... we have four X X's in our records." Gulp. Four? I immediately started using my middle name for almost all purposes.
But when I signed up for a gmail account in my real name for business reasons, I did not use my middle name. Now I get emails for people with my name, unconventional spelling of first name and all. Apparently one who shares my name just put a 1 at the end for her gmail account. None of her friends do though, so all their mail comes to me. And neither she nor her husband does half the time because I get emails from their church, their dentist, the coffee shop whose mailing list they subscribed to, etc. I've gotten two in the last week. One from an old friend who sent her a special sentiment in an attached word doc!
I wish I had used my middle name for that account. :-(
But one last good thing about MMM is... I have a really cool signature with large swirly M's. People comment on it when I sign checks. :-)
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Ardamírë
Doriath
Dec 1 2012, 3:47pm
Post #9 of 55
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It's not too common around here, which I really like. But I used to get teased for it when I was younger which I hated, but now I don't mind. I think it was because little elementary school kids are pretty mean, but now people do it just for fun or as a term of endearment (I guess )
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wendy woo
Ossiriand
Dec 1 2012, 3:56pm
Post #10 of 55
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But I thought her name was spelled "Gale", like a storm. Get it?
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sevilodorf
Dor-Lomin
Dec 1 2012, 4:01pm
Post #11 of 55
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Never have. At work I go by my last name as I dislike my first so much.
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wendy woo
Ossiriand
Dec 1 2012, 4:02pm
Post #12 of 55
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Three guesses what my name is...
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and the first two don't count! I guess I'm okay with my name. I could have been named Tonya, but my Dad didn't like that name. I don't think I do either, but maybe I'd feel differently if I'd actually gotten it. As it is, the only thing I don't like about my name is that everyone constantly wants to spell it with an "i". Listen to the sound of my voice: it's Weenndy, not Wiinnddy. And neither is is Wendi. Traditional spelling for me, thank you.
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wendy woo
Ossiriand
Dec 1 2012, 4:07pm
Post #13 of 55
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I gave my youngest son the name Daniel as a middle name. It means "God is my judge". I don't know if the name has anything to do with it, but my son does tend to be a little discriminating and opinionated, by the way.
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Annael
Elvenhome
Dec 1 2012, 4:21pm
Post #14 of 55
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I was given a first name that no one ever called me by; I was called by a nickname instead. I liked my real name but all attempts to get other people to use it failed. I was also given a middle name that was a family last name, and I never liked my last name. I liked the last name I acquired when I got married, but when we divorced I didn't want to keep it, and so I changed the entire shebang: I changed my first name to the nickname, I picked a new middle name, and I adopted my grandmother's maiden name as my last name.
I had to carry around a lot of papers for a while to explain why I had a totally different name from my birth certificate! But it's been 20 years now and it's who I am.
It's odd though: every now and then I meet someone new who says "why do I think your name is something like . . .?" and then they say my birth name or something close to it. Psychic?
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DanielLB
Elvenhome
Dec 1 2012, 6:56pm
Post #15 of 55
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Are you calling me opinionated? ;-)
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You chose a good name! 
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Dec 1 2012, 8:43pm
Post #16 of 55
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that I've never been in a school or workplace where another person has the same name, but common enough that people know it when they hear it. The spelling of it, however, has been interesting over the years.
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Elessar
Doriath
Dec 1 2012, 9:25pm
Post #17 of 55
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I rarely get called my my full first name Joshua and that's ok because unless its something professional I prefer Josh. My middle name is after a great grandfather and my last name while long is short (lol). So in the end I'm happy.
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Kassandros
Nargothrond
Dec 1 2012, 9:42pm
Post #18 of 55
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I'd be one of three people with my name... in a class of 15 people
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My legal name is insanely common. Most of my classes had at least one other person with my name. So I was often First Name + Last initial. Ugh.
Plus, I don't terribly care for the mythical figure I was named after. He did some awful, awful things and yet is still consider to be a great person. Ugh.
I still use my legal name in the business world and it gives me a way to distance my real self from that sphere. I consider myself to be more truly me around my friends than coworkers.
But around friends, for the last 10 years or so, I've used a name of my own choosing, both online and irl. There are a lot of grey areas, though, but I am pretty comfortable this way. I much prefer my taken name and feel it suits me better. My username here is a variant of it since "Cassander" was already taken. Most people just call me "Cass". Both are pretty rare.
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CuriousG
Gondolin
Dec 1 2012, 10:10pm
Post #19 of 55
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My name isn't too common but is recognizable. But what's way too common is a relative of mine, Jim Smith. Not even "James." When you're starting out with a last name of "Smith," I think the first name begs for something a little less common, but his parents didn't see it that way.
When he introduces himself, some people will take it as a smart-aleck joke and say something like, "Okay, Mr. Anonymous, what's your real name?" He says he would have changed it if he'd gotten around to it, but he never could decide on an alternative and just learned to put up with it.
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Radagast-Aiwendil
Mithlond
Dec 1 2012, 10:13pm
Post #20 of 55
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I like my name and don't really think I'd like another name more, though some I would like just as much
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Of course, if I had a choice, my name would be Gandalf and I wouldn't be in this particular world, but such is life
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
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Dec 2 2012, 12:06am
Post #21 of 55
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I once worked with a Mary Smith.
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Her husband was John.
She'd tell us with glee of the strange looks hotel clerks would give them as they registered as "John and Mary Smith". He would have to pull out his driver's license to prove the name was genuine!
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
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Dec 2 2012, 12:11am
Post #22 of 55
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It's as if your original name is "hovering" around you. And even stranger that you couldn't get people to call you by it...
But changing your whole name legally after your divorce must have felt like you were literally starting your life anew!
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imin
Doriath
Dec 2 2012, 12:27am
Post #23 of 55
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Its a good strong, manly name in my opinion. It is widely known and fairly common but less so that one might imagine - or it has been in my experience - no one in my classes had the same name, or my course at uni so maybe it fell out of fashion when i was born,
My surname is what i love more though. I am proud of it and it might sound stupid but i like the way my name, especially surname looks when written down.
Nicknames - been loads but never a variant of my name more some attribute i have stuck out for e.g. i was pretty good at rugby when younger and so rather predictably i was called tank, for a while. 
Now its more likely to be hoy ____ (insert swear word!) haha
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Tim
Dor-Lomin
Dec 2 2012, 2:44am
Post #24 of 55
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but I like my name. It breaks into a lot of cool nick-names as well.
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zarabia
Dor-Lomin
Dec 2 2012, 5:47am
Post #25 of 55
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My first name isn't rare, but it's not common either. However, my last name is quite rare; I've never met anyone outside my immediate family with my last name. In a way it's nice to have a relatively unique name, but there is absolutely no anonymity. If someone were to google my name, if they found any listing, they would know for sure it's me. I could never claim. "Oh, that's another XX."
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